Planning Authorities
In England and Wales, there are two tiers of planning authorities, namely county planning authorities and district planning authorities. As was the case in Ireland before 1925, there are both County Councils and District Councils within each county. In the parts of the country where there is both a county authority and a district authority, they each make a development plan. The county authority makes a structure plan and the district authority prepares the local plan. The District Council will be responsible for all development issues including applications for planning permissions and enforcement of planning controls. The overwhelming majority of applications are made to the District Council of district authority.
In London, the directly elected mayoral authority has special powers in the planning process. The planning applications will still be to local London District Council for most categories of developments. The Mayors Department must be consulted on a range of applications having potential strategic importance. In such cases, there is a power for the Mayor to refuse planning permission. The mayor may object to the application if he believes it is prejudicial to good strategic planning in Greater London.
Large-scale developments on which the Mayor has powers, include developments comprising more than 500 houses, flats or developments and development on land more than 10 hectares in area or than 75 metres high in the City of London or 30 metres high outside the City of London and certain larger buildings in the City of London having square footage in excess of certain thresholds
The Mayor of London can ‘call-in’ and make a decision on planning applications that have London-wide strategic importance. The Secretary of State may prescribe in secondary legislation which applications are subject to these powers. The Secretary of State to make a wider range of planning applications open to Mayoral scrutiny by reference to the Mayor’s “spatial development strategy under Part 8 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 or London borough development plan documents adopted or approved under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.”
National Government Control over Planning
The Minister for Housing Communities and Local Government has overall responsibility for planning legislation and his/her department (the DCLG) is the planning appeal body. The DCLG has powers to “call in” planning permissions which effectively overrule the Local Authority. This would generally only be done if the matter is of more than local significance although. The DCLG has wide powers to ensure that local authorities act in accordance with the general policies as laid down by the DCLG.
The DCLG has powers over local authorities in the making or aspects of the Development Plans to ensure compliance with the departmental policies. This power is available to enable the DCLG, to say, require more housing and to direct Local Authority to alter its local Development Plan accordingly. The DCLG has powers of appeal from enforcement notices and in certain circumstances may even grant planning permission for a development to which the enforcement notices relate.
The Secretary of State can take over responsibility for drafting a local plan if the LPA fails to do so. The Secretary of State may require the LPA itself to prepare or revise a plan.
The DCLG has power to “call in” certain significant planning applications where they are of major significance. The DCLG may give directions requiring consultations before granting planning permissions. For example, the DCLG has issued a requirement that Local Authorities consult it on applications for shopping area developments over 20,000 square metres. Another general direction relates to the residential density in London and South East England.
Local Authorities must consult with the DCLG upon most applications for a housing development on sites of one hectare or more and where the density would be less than 30 dwellings per hectare. Other directions include ones given in relation to development in green belt areas or flood areas.
Because of the central role of DCLG, it issued several Planning Policy Statements (PPS), Planning Policy guidance notes and circulars in order to ensure that the Department’s policies are followed and the significant powers mentioned above (including appeals) are used less.
In December 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that all PPSs would be replaced by a single document, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). A consultation draft of this new document was published on 25 July 2011. The final version of this document was published on 27 March 2012. It became a material consideration in planning matters on publication. It replaced all PPSs and all remaining PPGs, plus a number of letters to chief planning officers. A new version was published in July 2018.
Development Plans
The Planning Acts were revised pursuant to 2004 legislation to provide for replacement of the existing Development Plans by county and local area development plans with Regional Spatial Strategies. These new provisions were phased in over time as Local Authorities introduce the required strategies and plans. They provisions were reformed further after the 2010 change of government (see below).
There were to be regional spatial strategies which are to be a broad strategy for a 15 to 20 year period. There are eight regions in England together with London which has its own special Mayoral development strategy. The regions were Midlands, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, West-Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber.
The pre-existing regional planning guidelines laid down by the DCLG became the Regional Spatial Strategies under the new legislation. The Government’s policy on spatial planning is to go beyond traditional land use planning. The Regional Spatial Plans are to take account of the scale and distribution of provision of new housing provisions for the environment, transport, infrastructure, economic development, agricultural, minimal extraction, water treatment and disposal. The regional spatial strategies are to be revised by Regional Planning Boards.
The Local Authorities, (generally the county council and the district council) or London boroughs in London prepare the local development framework. Each Local Authority is to prepare a local development scheme which is to be submitted to the DCLG. The DCLG has powers to require amendments to the scheme to ensure that they are consistent with the Regional Spatial Strategy.
The local development documents must include statements of the development and use of land which the Local Authority wishes to encourage during the specified period. Objectives relating to design and access, in relation to environmental, social and economic objectives which are relevant to the attainment of the development and use of land are specified together with the authorities’ general policies.
There may be action area plans in relation to parts of a Local Authority area, identifying the area as an area of significant change or special conservation and containing the authority’s policies relevant to that area.
There are provisions for community involvement in the making and finalisation of the development plan documents. The development plan documents are required to contain the following:-
- a core strategy which must be kept up to date.
- Action Area Plans to provide a framework for areas of change and conservation
- Zoning allocating land for specified or mixed uses
- map to illustrate all the plans and proposals contained in the development plan.
Under the 2004 legislation, the development plan for any area of England comprises the regional spatial strategy for the region together with the development plan document to take in as a whole which had been adopted or approved for that area. In Greater London, the development plan has a spatial strategy development and the development plan documents in relation to that area.
Regard has to be had to the development plan in determining planning application. The determination must be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Where there is a conflict in the development plan between any one policy and the other, the conflict should be resolved in favour of the policy contained in the last document adapted approved and published.
The requirement to have regard to the provisions of the development plan does not mean that it must be slavishly adhered to. It requires the Local Authority to consider the plan and to make its determination in accordance with it unless material considerations otherwise indicate.
Revised Position on Development Plans
Planning legislation provides for the adoption of development plan. A local plan is to set out the needs of an area and provide a strategy to meet them. It is supplemented by further planning documents. The policies of the plan are to have a priority in decisions on planning applications.
Local authorities have a duty to keep under review matters affecting development in their area. They must revise their local development documents in in accordance with the position from time to time.
Certain documents are defined to be part of the local plan. The current guidance requires adoption of a single document to be known as the local plan rather than a series of documents (as before).
Documents which provide for
- the development or use of land which the authority wishes to encourage by the allocation of sites
- development management policies
- intended to guide development
are likely to fall within the definition of a local plan. They are accordingly subject to the requisite procedure
The local authority must adopt a statement of community involvement setting out how interested persons may make comments on the plan. The local plan is adopted in accordance with the local development scheme in accordance with the published timetable.Comments are to be taken into account.
The local authority should contact certain defined entities/bodies and request comments. The public havsa right to comment on the plan as it evolves and may suggest alternatives in this first phase. The consultation is accompanied by sustainability appraisal. This is to assist in decision taking by setting out social, environmental and economic effects of the proposals.
In preparing its plan, the planning authority is to have regard to national policy, other plans adopted and available resources. The local authority must engage with neighbouring authorities. This replaces previous requirements for regional tiers of plans, formerly known as Regional Strategies
After the final round of consultation, the plan is submitted to the Secretary of State. The planning inspectorate/ Secretary of State undertakes an examination in public. There may be a number of themed meetings with provision for input by representatives across various sectors and interested parties.
The duty of the person appointed to examine plan is to consider whether the planning authority has complied with its legal obligations and whether the document is “sound”. Soundness is defined in this context with reference to criteria such that it is
- effective,
- consistent with national policy
- suitably prepared
- justified
If the inspector is satisfied that the plan is compliant, he must recommend its adoption and provide reasons . if he is not satisfied he must recommend changes and give reasons. Effectively the local authority must adopt the plan in accordance with the recommendation of the inspector other than in respect of non-material modification.
Once adopted, the plan, the adoption statement, suitability appraisal must be made public. There is provision whereby the plan may be challenged within six weeks in the High Court. The plan must not be questioned in other proceedings.
Localism
The DCLG Plain English guide to the Planning System summarises the 2011 Localism reforms in the area of planning as follows
“Neighbourhood planning is a new right for communities and gives them direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area. For the first time communities can prepare plans with real legal weight and can grant
planning permission for the development they wish to see through a ‘neighbourhood development order’.
Since neighbourhood planning was introduced by the Localism Act 2011 there has been a growing momentum behind it. There are an increasing number of communities across England undertaking neighbourhood planning and the first areas have completed the process with their plansnow forming a formal part of the development plan for their areas. There is significant flexibility in what neighbourhood plans can include – they can involve, for example, just a few policies on design or retail uses or they can be comprehensive plans incorporating a diverse range of policies and site
allocations for housing or other development.
All neighbourhood plans and orders are subject to an independent examination and a vote by the local community in a referendum. Only a neighbourhood plan or order that appropriately fits with local strategic and national policies and complies with important legal conditions may be put
to a referendum.
When a neighbourhood plan has passed examination, achieved successful local support through referendum and is then formally ‘made’ by the Local Planning Authority, it will form part of the statutory ‘development plan’ which is used by the local planning authority in deciding planning
applications. This status, the community-led nature of neighbourhood planning and extra funding that the community can access through the community infrastructure levy (see below) are real incentives for
communities to take up this right. ”
Neighbourhood Planning
A parish council or body acting as a neighbourhood forum can apply to a local planning authority (LPA) for a neighbourhood development order, designating areas within which neighbourhood planning activities may take place. Subject to any necessary local referendums, a LPA must designate at least some of the area applied for.
The Secretary of State to make regulations requiring a local planning authority (LPA) to designate all of the area applied for if the application meets prescribed criteria or has not been determined within a prescribed period (subject to prescribed exceptions). A LPA has a number of duties following an application for a neighbourhood development order.
In prescribed circumstances the Secretary of State can intervene, at the request of the body responsible for a neighbourhood planning area, in a decision to hold a referendum on a neighbourhood planning proposal. The Secretary of State may by regulation specify the procedure to follow for such an intervention.
